UCSF settles a case where a post-op patient was left in a vegetative state after being overmedicated

“The patient, Spencer Sullivan, entered UCSF Medical Center on Dec. 26, 2001, for routine elective neck surgery, which was successful, according to a June 20 legal brief summarizing the plaintiff’s case. Following the surgery, however, Sullivan “was grossly overmedicated and then grossly underobserved,” leading to irreversible brain damage, according to the brief, which argued that a lack of coordinated care and oversight led to a narcotic overdose. As a result, Sullivan, now 44 and in a chronic vegetative state, will need medical care for the rest of his life.”

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